Rights of the Child/Human rights situation in the OPT/southern Lebanon & West Bekaa/Syria – CHR – Summary records (excerpts)

COMMISSION ON HUMAN RIGHTS

Fifty-first session

SUMMARY RECORD OF THE 50th MEETING

Held at the Palais des Nations, Geneva,

on Wednesday, 1 March 1995, at 3 p.m.

Chairman:   Mr. BIN HITAM   (Malaysia)

later:  Mr. PALLAIS (Nicaragua)

(Vice-Chairman)

CONTENTS

RIGHTS OF THE CHILD, INCLUDING:

(a) STATUS OF THE CONVENTION ON THE RIGHTS OF THE CHILD

(b) REPORT OF THE SPECIAL RAPPORTEUR ON THE SALE OF CHILDREN

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QUESTION OF THE VIOLATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS AND FUNDAMENTAL FREEDOMS IN ANY PART OF THE WORLD, WITH PARTICULAR REFERENCE TO COLONIAL AND OTHER DEPENDENT COUNTRIES AND TERRITORIES, …

This record is subject to correction.

Corrections should be submitted in one of the working languages.  They should be set forth in a memorandum and also incorporated in a copy of the record.  They should be sent within one week of the date of this document to the Official Records Editing Section, room E.4108, Palais des Nations, Geneva.

Any corrections to the records of the public meetings of the Commission at this session will be consolidated in a single corrigendum, to be issued shortly after the end of the session.

The meeting was called to order at 3.10 p.m.

RIGHTS OF THE CHILD, INCLUDING:

(a) STATUS OF THE CONVENTION ON THE RIGHTS OF THE CHILD

/…

1. Ms. MACHEL (Expert on the issue of the protection of children affected by armed conflicts), …

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10. Children caught up in low-intensity conflicts were especially vulnerable to torture and abuse, particularly in periods of detention.  The situation of the Palestinians or the Kurds gave chilling examples of that.  Ensuring the effective protection of children in such situations would be the subject of a conference in autumn 1995.  She hoped to collaborate closely with the Special Rapporteur on violence against women on the problem of the rape of girls and young women in conflicts.

/…

QUESTION OF THE VIOLATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS AND FUNDAMENTAL FREEDOMS IN ANY PART OF THE WORLD, WITH PARTICULAR REFERENCE TO COLONIAL AND OTHER DEPENDENT COUNTRIES AND TERRITORIES, …

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27. Mr. ABU-EISSA (Arab Lawyers Union) said that human rights violations had spread and intensified in many parts of the world largely as a result of poverty, civil wars and other conflicts, terrorism, and ethnic-cleansing campaigns.  Victims of human rights violations included indigenous populations, national groups and minorities.  Among the perpetrators of such violations were States, especially their security forces and armed forces, racist groups and radical political forces, including those which exploited religion for the purpose of imposing their views on others.

28. Human rights abuses in the countries of the Middle East and north Africa were on the rise.  Israeli forces were committing human rights violations against the peoples of southern Lebanon, the Golan Heights and Palestine.  Examples of the devastating impact of religious extremism, fanaticism and terrorism on human rights could be seen in the Sudan and Algeria.  

29. Israeli policy and practices in occupied Palestine demonstrated the serious consequences that arose from failure to comply with United Nations resolutions.  Despite the recent peace agreements, the occupying Israeli authorities continued to annex Palestinian land and to build and expand their settlements.  Israeli authorities had thus far refused to withdraw their security forces from Palestinian towns and would not even allow the Palestinians to hold legislative elections.  Palestinians were subject to murder, economic embargo and detention under inhuman conditions.

30. He called upon Israel to comply with the relevant resolutions and withdraw from the occupied Palestinian territories, so that the Palestinian people could exercise its right to self-determination and establish an independent State.  

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The meeting rose at 6.10 p.m.